A castle (from Latin: castellum) is a type of fortified structure
built in
EuropeEurope and the
Middle EastMiddle East during the
Middle AgesMiddle Ages by European
nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually
consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble.
This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a
fortress, which was not always a residence for nobility; and from a
fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there
are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the
term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as
diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately
900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many
forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain
walls and arrowslits, were commonplace.
A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and
10th centuries, after the fall of the
Carolingian EmpireCarolingian Empire resulted
in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes.
These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding
them and the castles were both offensive and defensive structures;
they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as
protection from enemies. Although their military origins are often
emphasised in castle studies, the structures also served as centres of
administration and symbols of power. Urban castles were used to
control the local populace and important travel routes, and rural
castles were often situated near features that were integral to life
in the community, such as mills, fertile land, or a water source.
Many castles were originally built from earth and timber, but had
their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited
natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits and
relying on a central keep. In the late 12th and early
13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged.
This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking
fire. Many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric
defence – several stages of defence within each other that
could all function at the same time to maximise the castle's
firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture
of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric
fortification, and inspiration from earlier defences, such as Roman
forts. Not all the elements of castle architecture were military in
nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original
purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long
winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape.
Although gunpowder was introduced to
EuropeEurope in the 14th century,
it did not significantly affect castle building until the
15th century, when artillery became powerful enough to break
through stone walls. While castles continued to be built well into the
16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire
made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result,
true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts
with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were
indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed
interest in castles with the construction of mock castles, part of a
romantic revival of Gothic architecture, but they had no military
purpose.

The Norman "White Tower", the keep of the Tower of London, exemplifies
all uses of a castle including city defence, a residence, and a place
of refuge in times of crisis.

The word castle is derived from the
LatinLatin word castellum, which is a
diminutive of the word castrum, meaning "fortified place". The Old
English castel,
Old FrenchOld French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish
castillo, Italian castello, and a number of words in other languages
also derive from castellum.[1] The word castle was introduced into
English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of
building, which was then new to England.[2]
Defining characteristics[edit]
In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst
academics is "a private fortified residence".[3] This contrasts with
earlier fortifications, such as Anglo-Saxon burhs and walled cities
such as
ConstantinopleConstantinople and
AntiochAntioch in the Middle East; castles were
not communal defences but were built and owned by the local feudal
lords, either for themselves or for their monarch.[4]
FeudalismFeudalism was
the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for military
service and the expectation of loyalty, the lord would grant the
vassal land.[5] In the late 20th century, there was a trend to
refine the definition of a castle by including the criterion of feudal
ownership, thus tying castles to the medieval period; however, this
does not necessarily reflect the terminology used in the medieval
period. During the
First CrusadeFirst Crusade (1096–1099), the Frankish armies
encountered walled settlements and forts that they indiscriminately
referred to as castles, but which would not be considered as such
under the modern definition.[3]

Windsor CastleWindsor Castle in England was founded as a fortification during the
Norman Conquest and today is one of the principal official residences
of Queen Elizabeth II.

Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were
military, administrative, and domestic. As well as defensive
structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a
base of operations in enemy territory. Castles were established by
Norman invaders of England for both defensive purposes and to pacify
the country's inhabitants.[6] As William the Conqueror advanced
through England, he fortified key positions to secure the land he had
taken. Between 1066 and 1087, he established 36 castles such as
Warwick Castle, which he used to guard against rebellion in the
English Midlands.[7][8]
Towards the end of the Middle Ages, castles tended to lose their
military significance due to the advent of powerful cannons and
permanent artillery fortifications;[9] as a result, castles became
more important as residences and statements of power.[10] A castle
could act as a stronghold and prison but was also a place where a
knight or lord could entertain his peers.[11] Over time the aesthetics
of the design became more important, as the castle's appearance and
size began to reflect the prestige and power of its occupant.
Comfortable homes were often fashioned within their fortified walls.
Although castles still provided protection from low levels of violence
in later periods, eventually they were succeeded by country houses as
high status residences.[12]
Terminology[edit]
CastleCastle is sometimes used as a catch-all term for all kinds of
fortifications and, as a result, has been misapplied in the technical
sense. An example of this is Maiden
CastleCastle which, despite the name, is
an
Iron AgeIron Age hill fort which had a very different origin and
purpose.[13]

Although "castle" has not become a generic term for a manor house
(like château in French and
SchlossSchloss in German), many manor houses
contain "castle" in their name while having few if any of the
architectural characteristics, usually as their owners liked to
maintain a link to the past and felt the term "castle" was a masculine
expression of their power.[14] In scholarship the castle, as defined
above, is generally accepted as a coherent concept, originating in
EuropeEurope and later spreading to parts of the Middle East, where they
were introduced by European Crusaders. This coherent group shared a
common origin, dealt with a particular mode of warfare, and exchanged
influences.[15]
In different areas of the world, analogous structures shared features
of fortification and other defining characteristics associated with
the concept of a castle, though they originated in different periods
and circumstances and experienced differing evolutions and influences.
For example, shiro in Japan, described as castles by historian Stephen
Turnbull, underwent "a completely different developmental history,
were built in a completely different way and were designed to
withstand attacks of a completely different nature".[16] While
European castles built from the late 12th and early 13th century
onwards were generally stone, shiro were predominantly timber
buildings into the 16th century.[17]
By the 16th century, when Japanese and European cultures met,
fortification in
EuropeEurope had moved beyond castles and relied on
innovations such as the Italian trace italienne and star forts.[16]
Forts in IndiaForts in India present a similar case; when they were encountered by
the British in the 17th century, castles in
EuropeEurope had generally
fallen out of use militarily. Like shiro, the Indian forts, durga or
durg in Sanskrit, shared features with castles in
EuropeEurope such as
acting as a domicile for a lord as well as being fortifications. They
too developed differently from the structures known as castles that
had their origins in Europe.[18]
Common features[edit]
Motte[edit]
See also: Motte-and-bailey

The wooden palisades surmounting mottes were often later replaced with
stone, as in this example at
ChâteauChâteau de Gisors in France.

A motte was an earthen mound with a flat top. It was often artificial,
although sometimes it incorporated a pre-existing feature of the
landscape. The excavation of earth to make the mound left a ditch
around the motte, called a moat (which could be either wet or dry).
"Motte" and "moat" derive from the same
Old FrenchOld French word, indicating
that the features were originally associated and depended on each
other for their construction. Although the motte is commonly
associated with the bailey to form a motte-and-bailey castle, this was
not always the case and there are instances where a motte existed on
its own.[19]
"Motte" refers to the mound alone, but it was often surmounted by a
fortified structure, such as a keep, and the flat top would be
surrounded by a palisade.[19] It was common for the motte to be
reached over a flying bridge (a bridge over the ditch from the
counterscarp of the ditch to the edge of the top of the mound), as
shown in the Bayeux Tapestry's depiction of
ChâteauChâteau de Dinan.[20]
Sometimes a motte covered an older castle or hall, whose rooms became
underground storage areas and prisons beneath a new keep.[21]
Bailey and enceinte[edit]
See also: Enceinte
A bailey, also called a ward, was a fortified enclosure. It was a
common feature of castles, and most had at least one. The keep on top
of the motte was the domicile of the lord in charge of the castle and
a bastion of last defence, while the bailey was the home of the rest
of the lord's household and gave them protection. The barracks for the
garrison, stables, workshops, and storage facilities were often found
in the bailey. Water was supplied by a well or cistern. Over time the
focus of high status accommodation shifted from the keep to the
bailey; this resulted in the creation of another bailey that separated
the high status buildings – such as the lord's chambers and the
chapel – from the everyday structures such as the workshops and
barracks.[22]
From the late 12th century there was a trend for knights to move
out of the small houses they had previously occupied within the bailey
to live in fortified houses in the countryside.[23] Although often
associated with the motte-and-bailey type of castle, baileys could
also be found as independent defensive structures. These simple
fortifications were called ringworks.[24] The enceinte was the
castle's main defensive enclosure, and the terms "bailey" and
"enceinte" are linked. A castle could have several baileys but only
one enceinte. Castles with no keep, which relied on their outer
defences for protection, are sometimes called enceinte castles;[25]
these were the earliest form of castles, before the keep was
introduced in the 10th century.[26]
Keep[edit]
Main article: Keep

The 14th-century keep of
ChâteauChâteau de Vincennes near Paris towers above
the castle's curtain wall. The wall exhibits features common to castle
architecture: a gatehouse, corner towers, and machicolations.

A keep was a great tower and usually the most strongly defended point
of a castle before the introduction of concentric defence. "Keep" was
not a term used in the medieval period – the term was applied
from the 16th century onwards – instead "donjon" was used
to refer to great towers,[27] or turris in Latin. In motte-and-bailey
castles, the keep was on top of the motte.[19] "Dungeon" is a
corrupted form of "donjon" and means a dark, unwelcoming prison.[28]
Although often the strongest part of a castle and a last place of
refuge if the outer defences fell, the keep was not left empty in case
of attack but was used as a residence by the lord who owned the
castle, or his guests or representatives.[29]
At first this was usual only in England, when after the Norman
Conquest of 1066 the "conquerors lived for a long time in a constant
state of alert";[30] elsewhere the lord's wife presided over a
separate residence (domus, aula or mansio in Latin) close to the keep,
and the donjon was a barracks and headquarters. Gradually, the two
functions merged into the same building, and the highest residential
storeys had large windows; as a result for many structures, it is
difficult to find an appropriate term.[31] The massive internal spaces
seen in many surviving donjons can be misleading; they would have been
divided into several rooms by light partitions, as in a modern office
building. Even in some large castles the great hall was separated only
by a partition from the lord's "chamber", his bedroom and to some
extent his office.[32]
Curtain wall[edit]
Main article: Curtain wall (fortification)
Curtain walls were defensive walls enclosing a bailey. They had to be
high enough to make scaling the walls with ladders difficult and thick
enough to withstand bombardment from siege engines which, from the
15th century onwards, included gunpowder artillery. A typical
wall could be 3 m (10 ft) thick and 12 m (39 ft)
tall, although sizes varied greatly between castles. To protect them
from undermining, curtain walls were sometimes given a stone skirt
around their bases. Walkways along the tops of the curtain walls
allowed defenders to rain missiles on enemies below, and battlements
gave them further protection. Curtain walls were studded with towers
to allow enfilading fire along the wall.[33] Arrowslits in the walls
did not become common in
EuropeEurope until the 13th century, for fear
that they might compromise the wall's strength.[34]
Gatehouse[edit]
Main article: Gatehouse

A 13th-century gatehouse in the château de Châteaubriant, France. It
connects the upper ward to the lower one.

The entrance was often the weakest part in a circuit of defences. To
overcome this, the gatehouse was developed, allowing those inside the
castle to control the flow of traffic. In earth and timber castles,
the gateway was usually the first feature to be rebuilt in stone. The
front of the gateway was a blind spot and to overcome this, projecting
towers were added on each side of the gate in a style similar to that
developed by the Romans.[35] The gatehouse contained a series of
defences to make a direct assault more difficult than battering down a
simple gate. Typically, there were one or more portcullises – a
wooden grille reinforced with metal to block a passage – and
arrowslits to allow defenders to harry the enemy. The passage through
the gatehouse was lengthened to increase the amount of time an
assailant had to spend under fire in a confined space and unable to
retaliate.[36]
It is a popular myth that so-called murder-holes – openings in
the ceiling of the gateway passage – were used to pour boiling
oil or molten lead on attackers; the price of oil and lead and the
distance of the gatehouse from fires meant that this was
impractical.[37] This method was, however, a common practice in the
MENA region and the Mediterranean castles and fortifications where
such resources were abundant.[38][39] They were most likely used to
drop objects on attackers, or to allow water to be poured on fires to
extinguish them.[40] Provision was made in the upper storey of the
gatehouse for accommodation so the gate was never left undefended,
although this arrangement later evolved to become more comfortable at
the expense of defence.[41]
During the 13th and 14th centuries the barbican was developed.[42]
This consisted of a rampart, ditch, and possibly a tower, in front of
the gatehouse[43] which could be used to further protect the entrance.
The purpose of a barbican was not just to provide another line of
defence but also to dictate the only approach to the gate.[44]
Moat[edit]
Main article: Moat

A moat was a defensive ditch with steep sides, and could be either dry
or filled with water. Its purpose was twofold; to stop devices such as
siege towers from reaching the curtain wall and to prevent the walls
from being undermined. Water moats were found in low-lying areas and
were usually crossed by a drawbridge, although these were often
replaced by stone bridges. Fortified islands could be added to the
moat, adding another layer of defence. Water defences, such as moats
or natural lakes, had the benefit of dictating the enemy's approach to
the castle.[45] The site of the 13th-century
Caerphilly CastleCaerphilly Castle in
Wales covers over 30 acres (12 ha) and the water defences,
created by flooding the valley to the south of the castle, are some of
the largest in Western Europe.[46]
Other features[edit]
Battlements were most often found surmounting curtain walls and the
tops of gatehouses, and comprised several elements: crenellations,
hoardings, machicolations, and loopholes. Crenellation is the
collective name for alternating crenels and merlons: gaps and solid
blocks on top of a wall. Hoardings were wooden constructs that
projected beyond the wall, allowing defenders to shoot at, or drop
objects on, attackers at the base of the wall without having to lean
perilously over the crenellations, thereby exposing themselves to
retaliatory fire. Machicolations were stone projections on top of a
wall with openings that allowed objects to be dropped on an enemy at
the base of the wall in a similar fashion to hoardings.[47]
Arrowslits, also commonly called loopholes, were narrow vertical
openings in defensive walls which allowed arrows or crossbow bolts to
be fired on attackers. The narrow slits were intended to protect the
defender by providing a very small target, but the size of the opening
could also impede the defender if it was too small. A smaller
horizontal opening could be added to give an archer a better view for
aiming.[48] Sometimes a sally port was included; this could allow the
garrison to leave the castle and engage besieging forces.[49] It was
usual for the latrines to empty down the external walls of a castle
and into the surrounding ditch.[50]
History[edit]
Antecedents[edit]

According to historian Charles Coulson the accumulation of wealth and
resources, such as food, led to the need for defensive structures. The
earliest fortifications originated in the Fertile Crescent, the Indus
Valley, Egypt, and China where settlements were protected by large
walls. Northern
EuropeEurope was slower than the East to develop defensive
structures and it was not until the
Bronze AgeBronze Age that hill forts
developed and began to spread across Europe.[52] In the medieval
period castles were influenced by earlier forms of elite architecture,
contributing to regional variations. Importantly, while castles had
military aspects, they contained a recognisable household structure
within their walls, reflecting the multi-functional use of these
buildings.[53]
Origins (9th and 10th centuries)[edit]
The subject of the emergence of castles is a complex matter which has
led to considerable debate. Discussions have typically attributed the
rise of the castle to a reaction to attacks by Magyars, Muslims, and
VikingsVikings and a need for private defence.[54] The breakdown of the
Carolingian EmpireCarolingian Empire led to the privatisation of government, and local
lords assumed responsibility for the economy and justice.[55] However,
while castles proliferated in the 9th and 10th centuries the link
between periods of insecurity and building fortifications is not
always straightforward. Some high concentrations of castles occur in
secure places, while some border regions had relatively few
castles.[56]
It is likely that the castle evolved from the practice of fortifying a
lordly home. The greatest threat to a lord's home or hall was fire as
it was usually a wooden structure. To protect against this, and keep
other threats at bay, there were several courses of action available:
create encircling earthworks to keep an enemy at a distance; build the
hall in stone; or raise it up on an artificial mound, known as a
motte, to present an obstacle to attackers.[57] While the concept of
ditches, ramparts, and stone walls as defensive measures is ancient,
raising a motte is a medieval innovation.[58]
A bank and ditch enclosure was a simple form of defence, and when
found without an associated motte is called a ringwork; when the site
was in use for a prolonged period, it was sometimes replaced by a more
complex structure or enhanced by the addition of a stone curtain
wall.[59] Building the hall in stone did not necessarily make it
immune to fire as it still had windows and a wooden door. This led to
the elevation of windows to the first floor – to make it harder
to throw objects in – and to change the entrance from ground
floor to first floor. These features are seen in many surviving castle
keeps, which were the more sophisticated version of halls.[60] Castles
were not just defensive sites but also enhanced a lord's control over
his lands. They allowed the garrison to control the surrounding
area,[61] and formed a centre of administration, providing the lord
with a place to hold court.[62]

Building a castle sometimes required the permission of the king or
other high authority. In 864 the King of West Francia, Charles the
Bald, prohibited the construction of castella without his permission
and ordered them all to be destroyed. This is perhaps the earliest
reference to castles, though military historian R. Allen Brown points
out that the word castella may have applied to any fortification at
the time.[63]
In some countries the monarch had little control over lords, or
required the construction of new castles to aid in securing the land
so was unconcerned about granting permission – as was the case
in England in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the Holy Land
during the Crusades. Switzerland is an extreme case of there being no
state control over who built castles, and as a result there were 4,000
in the country.[64] There are very few castles dated with certainty
from the mid-9th century. Converted into a donjon around 950,
ChâteauChâteau de
Doué-la-FontaineDoué-la-Fontaine in France is the oldest standing castle
in Europe.[65]
11th century[edit]
From 1000 onwards, references to castles in texts such as charters
increased greatly. Historians have interpreted this as evidence of a
sudden increase in the number of castles in
EuropeEurope around this time;
this has been supported by archaeological investigation which has
dated the construction of castle sites through the examination of
ceramics.[66] The increase in Italy began in the 950s, with numbers of
castles increasing by a factor of three to five every 50 years,
whereas in other parts of
EuropeEurope such as France and Spain the growth
was slower. In 950
ProvenceProvence was home to 12 castles, by 1000 this
figure had risen to 30, and by 1030 it was over 100.[67] Although the
increase was slower in Spain, the 1020s saw a particular growth in the
number of castles in the region, particularly in contested border
areas between Christian and Muslim.[68]
Despite the common period in which castles rose to prominence in
Europe, their form and design varied from region to region. In the
early 11th century, the motte and keep – an artificial
mound surmounted by a palisade and tower – was the most common
form of castle in Europe, everywhere except Scandinavia.[67] While
Britain, France, and Italy shared a tradition of timber construction
that was continued in castle architecture, Spain more commonly used
stone or mud-brick as the main building material.[69]
The Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century
introduced a style of building developed in North Africa reliant on
tapial, pebbles in cement, where timber was in short supply.[70]
Although stone construction would later become common elsewhere, from
the 11th century onwards it was the primary building material for
Christian castles in Spain,[71] while at the same time timber was
still the dominant building material in north-west Europe.[68]

Built in 1138,
CastleCastle Rising in England is an example of an elaborate
donjon.[72]

Historians have interpreted the widespread presence of castles across
EuropeEurope in the 11th and 12th centuries as evidence that
warfare was common, and usually between local lords.[73] Castles were
introduced into England shortly before the Norman Conquest in
1066.[74] Before the 12th century castles were as uncommon in
Denmark as they had been in England before the Norman Conquest. The
introduction of castles to Denmark was a reaction to attacks from
Wendish pirates, and they were usually intended as coastal
defences.[64] The motte and bailey remained the dominant form of
castle in England, Wales, and Ireland well into the
12th century.[75] At the same time, castle architecture in
mainland
EuropeEurope became more sophisticated.[76]
The donjon[77] was at the centre of this change in castle architecture
in the 12th century. Central towers proliferated, and typically
had a square plan, with walls 3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13.1 ft)
thick. Their decoration emulated Romanesque architecture, and
sometimes incorporated double windows similar to those found in church
bell towers. Donjons, which were the residence of the lord of the
castle, evolved to become more spacious. The design emphasis of
donjons changed to reflect a shift from functional to decorative
requirements, imposing a symbol of lordly power upon the landscape.
This sometimes led to compromising defence for the sake of
display.[76]
Innovation and scientific design (12th century)[edit]
Until the 12th century, stone-built and earth and timber castles
were contemporary,[78] but by the late 12th century the number of
castles being built went into decline. This has been partly attributed
to the higher cost of stone-built fortifications, and the obsolescence
of timber and earthwork sites, which meant it was preferable to build
in more durable stone.[79] Although superseded by their stone
successors, timber and earthwork castles were by no means useless.[80]
This is evidenced by the continual maintenance of timber castles over
long periods, sometimes several centuries; Owain Glyndŵr's
11th-century timber castle at
SycharthSycharth was still in use by the start
of the 15th century, its structure having been maintained for
four centuries.[81][82]
At the same time there was a change in castle architecture. Until the
late 12th century castles generally had few towers; a gateway
with few defensive features such as arrowslits or a portcullis; a
great keep or donjon, usually square and without arrowslits; and the
shape would have been dictated by the lay of the land (the result was
often irregular or curvilinear structures). The design of castles was
not uniform, but these were features that could be found in a typical
castle in the mid-12th century.[83] By the end of the
12th century or the early 13th century, a newly constructed
castle could be expected to be polygonal in shape, with towers at the
corners to provide enfilading fire for the walls. The towers would
have protruded from the walls and featured arrowslits on each level to
allow archers to target anyone nearing or at the curtain wall.[84]

These later castles did not always have a keep, but this may have been
because the more complex design of the castle as a whole drove up
costs and the keep was sacrificed to save money. The larger towers
provided space for habitation to make up for the loss of the donjon.
Where keeps did exist, they were no longer square but polygonal or
cylindrical. Gateways were more strongly defended, with the entrance
to the castle usually between two half-round towers which were
connected by a passage above the gateway – although there was
great variety in the styles of gateway and entrances – and one
or more portcullis.[84]
A peculiar feature of Muslim castles in the Iberian Peninsula was the
use of detached towers, called Albarrana towers, around the perimeter
as can be seen at the
AlcazabaAlcazaba of Badajoz. Probably developed in the
12th century, the towers provided flanking fire. They were
connected to the castle by removable wooden bridges, so if the towers
were captured the rest of the castle was not accessible.[85]

The gatehouse to the inner ward of Beeston Castle, England, was built
in the 1220s and has an entrance between two D-shaped towers.[86]

When seeking to explain this change in the complexity and style of
castles, antiquarians found their answer in the Crusades. It seemed
that the Crusaders had learned much about fortification from their
conflicts with the Saracens and exposure to Byzantine architecture.
There were legends such as that of Lalys – an architect from
Palestine who reputedly went to Wales after the
CrusadesCrusades and greatly
enhanced the castles in the south of the country – and it was
assumed that great architects such as
James of Saint GeorgeJames of Saint George originated
in the East. In the mid-20th century this view was cast into
doubt. Legends were discredited, and in the case of James of Saint
George it was proven that he came from Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche, in
France. If the innovations in fortification had derived from the East,
it would have been expected for their influence to be seen from 1100
onwards, immediately after the Christians were victorious in the First
Crusade (1096–1099), rather than nearly 100 years later.[87]
Remains of Roman structures in Western
EuropeEurope were still standing in
many places, some of which had flanking round-towers and entrances
between two flanking towers.
The castle builders of Western
EuropeEurope were aware of and influenced by
Roman design; late Roman coastal forts on the English "Saxon Shore"
were reused and in Spain the wall around the city of Ávila imitated
Roman architecture when it was built in 1091.[87] Historian Smail in
Crusading warfare argued that the case for the influence of Eastern
fortification on the West has been overstated, and that Crusaders of
the 12th century in fact learned very little about scientific
design from Byzantine and
SaracenSaracen defences.[88] A well-sited castle
that made use of natural defences and had strong ditches and walls had
no need for a scientific design. An example of this approach is Kerak.
Although there were no scientific elements to its design, it was
almost impregnable, and in 1187
SaladinSaladin chose to lay siege to the
castle and starve out its garrison rather than risk an assault.[88]
After the First Crusade, Crusaders who did not return to their homes
in
EuropeEurope helped found the
Crusader statesCrusader states of the Principality of
Antioch, the County of Edessa, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the
County of Tripoli. The castles they founded to secure their
acquisitions were designed mostly by Syrian master-masons. Their
design was very similar to that of a Roman fort or Byzantine
tetrapyrgia which were square in plan and had square towers at each
corner that did not project much beyond the curtain wall. The keep of
these Crusader castles would have had a square plan and generally be
undecorated.[89]
While castles were used to hold a site and control movement of armies,
in the Holy Land some key strategic positions were left
unfortified.[90]
CastleCastle architecture in the East became more complex
around the late 12th and early 13th centuries after the stalemate
of the
Third CrusadeThird Crusade (1189–1192). Both Christians and Muslims
created fortifications, and the character of each was different.
Saphadin, the 13th-century ruler of the Saracens, created structures
with large rectangular towers that influenced Muslim architecture and
were copied again and again, however they had little influence on
Crusader castles.[91]
13th to 15th centuries[edit]

In the early 13th century, Crusader castles were mostly built by
Military Orders including the Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar,
and Teutonic Knights. The orders were responsible for the foundation
of sites such as Krak des Chevaliers, Margat, and Belvoir. Design
varied not just between orders, but between individual castles, though
it was common for those founded in this period to have concentric
defences.[93]
The concept, which originated in castles such as Krak des Chevaliers,
was to remove the reliance on a central strongpoint and to emphasise
the defence of the curtain walls. There would be multiple rings of
defensive walls, one inside the other, with the inner ring rising
above the outer so that its field of fire was not completely obscured.
If assailants made it past the first line of defence they would be
caught in the killing ground between the inner and outer walls and
have to assault the second wall.[94]
Concentric castles were widely copied across Europe, for instance when
Edward I of England – who had himself been on Crusade –
built castles in Wales in the late 13th century, four of the
eight he founded had a concentric design.[93][94] Not all the features
of the Crusader castles from the 13th century were emulated in
Europe. For instance, it was common in Crusader castles to have the
main gate in the side of a tower and for there to be two turns in the
passageway, lengthening the time it took for someone to reach the
outer enclosure. It is rare for this bent entrance to be found in
Europe.[93]

One of the effects of the
Livonian CrusadeLivonian Crusade in the Baltic was the
introduction of stone and brick fortifications. Although there were
hundreds of wooden castles in
PrussiaPrussia and Livonia, the use of bricks
and mortar was unknown in the region before the Crusaders. Until the
13th century and start of the 14th centuries, their design was
heterogeneous, however this period saw the emergence of a standard
plan in the region: a square plan, with four wings around a central
courtyard.[95] It was common for castles in the East to have
arrowslits in the curtain wall at multiple levels; contemporary
builders in
EuropeEurope were wary of this as they believed it weakened the
wall. Arrowslits did not compromise the wall's strength, but it was
not until Edward I's programme of castle building that they were
widely adopted in Europe.[34]
The
CrusadesCrusades also led to the introduction of machicolations into
Western architecture. Until the 13th century, the tops of towers
had been surrounded by wooden galleries, allowing defenders to drop
objects on assailants below. Although machicolations performed the
same purpose as the wooden galleries, they were probably an Eastern
invention rather than an evolution of the wooden form. Machicolations
were used in the East long before the arrival of the Crusaders, and
perhaps as early as the first half of the 8th century in
Syria.[96]
The greatest period of castle building in Spain was in the 11th to
13th centuries, and they were most commonly found in the disputed
borders between Christian and Muslim lands. Conflict and interaction
between the two groups led to an exchange of architectural ideas, and
Spanish Christians adopted the use of detached towers. The Spanish
Reconquista, driving the Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula, was
complete in 1492.[85]

The northern walls of the Gran Castello in Gozo, Malta, were built in
the 15th century.

Although France has been described as "the heartland of medieval
architecture", the English were at the forefront of castle
architecture in the 12th century. French historian François
Gebelin wrote: "The great revival in military architecture was led, as
one would naturally expect, by the powerful kings and princes of the
time; by the sons of William the Conqueror and their descendants, the
Plantagenets, when they became dukes of Normandy. These were the men
who built all the most typical twelfth-century fortified castles
remaining to-day".[97] Despite this, by the beginning of the
15th century, the rate of castle construction in England and
Wales went into decline. The new castles were generally of a lighter
build than earlier structures and presented few innovations, although
strong sites were still created such as that of Raglan in Wales. At
the same time, French castle architecture came to the fore and led the
way in the field of medieval fortifications. Across Europe –
particularly the Baltic, Germany, and Scotland – castles were
built well into the 16th century.[98]
Advent of gunpowder[edit]

ArtilleryArtillery powered by gunpowder was introduced to
EuropeEurope in the 1320s
and spread quickly. Handguns, which were initially unpredictable and
inaccurate weapons, were not recorded until the 1380s.[99] Castles
were adapted to allow small artillery pieces – averaging
between 19.6 and 22 kg (43 and 49 lb) – to fire from
towers. These guns were too heavy for a man to carry and fire, but if
he supported the butt end and rested the muzzle on the edge of the gun
port he could fire the weapon. The gun ports developed in this period
show a unique feature, that of a horizontal timber across the opening.
A hook on the end of the gun could be latched over the timber so the
gunner did not have to take the full recoil of the weapon. This
adaptation is found across Europe, and although the timber rarely
survives, there is an intact example at
CastleCastle Doornenburg in the
Netherlands. Gunports were keyhole shaped, with a circular hole at the
bottom for the weapon and a narrow slit on top to allow the gunner to
aim.[100]
This form is very common in castles adapted for guns, found in Egypt,
Italy, Scotland, and Spain, and elsewhere in between. Other types of
port, though less common, were horizontal slits – allowing only
lateral movement – and large square openings, which allowed
greater movement.[100] The use of guns for defence gave rise to
artillery castles, such as that of
ChâteauChâteau de Ham in France. Defences
against guns were not developed until a later stage.[101] Ham is an
example of the trend for new castles to dispense with earlier features
such as machicolations, tall towers, and crenellations.[102]
Bigger guns were developed, and in the 15th century became an
alternative to siege engines such as the trebuchet. The benefits of
large guns over trebuchets – the most effective siege engine of
the
Middle AgesMiddle Ages before the advent of gunpowder – were those of
a greater range and power. In an effort to make them more effective,
guns were made ever bigger, although this hampered their ability to
reach remote castles. By the 1450s guns were the preferred siege
weapon, and their effectiveness was demonstrated by
Mehmed IIMehmed II at the
Fall of Constantinople.[103]
The response towards more effective cannons was to build thicker walls
and to prefer round towers, as the curving sides were more likely to
deflect a shot than a flat surface. While this sufficed for new
castles, pre-existing structures had to find a way to cope with being
battered by cannon. An earthen bank could be piled behind a castle's
curtain wall to absorb some of the shock of impact.[104]
Often, castles constructed before the age of gunpowder were incapable
of using guns as their wall-walks were too narrow. A solution to this
was to pull down the top of a tower and to fill the lower part with
the rubble to provide a surface for the guns to fire from. Lowering
the defences in this way had the effect of making them easier to scale
with ladders. A more popular alternative defence, which avoided
damaging the castle, was to establish bulwarks beyond the castle's
defences. These could be built from earth or stone and were used to
mount weapons.[105]
Bastions and star forts (16th century)[edit]

The angled bastion, as used in
Copertino CastleCopertino Castle in Italy, was
developed around 1500. First used in Italy, it allowed the evolution
of artillery forts that eventually took over the military role of
castles.

Around 1500, the innovation of the angled bastion was developed in
Italy.[106] With developments such as these, Italy pioneered permanent
artillery fortifications, which took over from the defensive role of
castles. From this evolved star forts, also known as trace
italienne.[9] The elite responsible for castle construction had to
choose between the new type that could withstand cannon fire and the
earlier, more elaborate style. The first was ugly and uncomfortable
and the latter was less secure, although it did offer greater
aesthetic appeal and value as a status symbol. The second choice
proved to be more popular as it became apparent that there was little
point in trying to make the site genuinely defensible in the face of
cannon.[107] For a variety of reasons, not least of which is that many
castles have no recorded history, there is no firm number of castles
built in the medieval period. However, it has been estimated that
between 75,000 and 100,000 were built in western Europe;[108] of these
around 1,700 were in England and Wales[109] and around 14,000 in
German-speaking areas.[110]
Some true castles were built in the
AmericasAmericas by the Spanish and French
colonies. The first stage of Spanish fort construction has been termed
the "castle period", which lasted from 1492 until the end of the
16th century.[111] Starting with Fortaleza Ozama, "these castles
were essentially European medieval castles transposed to
America".[112] Among other defensive structures (including forts and
citadels), castles were also built in
New FranceNew France towards the end of
the 17th century.[113] In Montreal the artillery was not as
developed as on the battle-fields of Europe, some of the region's
outlying forts were built like the fortified manor houses of France.
Fort Longueuil, built from 1695–1698 by a baronial family, has been
described as "the most medieval-looking fort built in Canada".[114]
The manor house and stables were within a fortified bailey, with a
tall round turret in each corner. The "most substantial castle-like
fort" near Montréal was Fort Senneville, built in 1692 with square
towers connected by thick stone walls, as well as a fortified
windmill.[115] Stone forts such as these served as defensive
residences, as well as imposing structures to prevent Iroquois
incursions.[116]
Although castle construction faded towards the end of the
16th century, castles did not necessarily all fall out of use.
Some retained a role in local administration and became law courts,
while others are still handed down in aristocratic families as
hereditary seats. A particularly famous example of this is Windsor
CastleCastle in England which was founded in the 11th century and is
home to the monarch of the United Kingdom.[117] In other cases they
still had a role in defence. Tower houses, which are closely related
to castles and include pele towers, were defended towers that were
permanent residences built in the 14th to 17th centuries. Especially
common in Ireland and Scotland, they could be up to five storeys high
and succeeded common enclosure castles and were built by a greater
social range of people. While unlikely to provide as much protection
as a more complex castle, they offered security against raiders and
other small threats.[118][119]
Later use and revival castles[edit]

Neuschwanstein is a 19th-century historicist (neoromanesque) castle
built by Ludwig II of Bavaria, inspired by the romanticism of the
time.

Castello Dei Baroni, a country residence in Wardija, Malta, designed
with castle-like features

According to archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham, "the
great country houses of the seventeenth to twentieth centuries were,
in a social sense, the castles of their day".[120] Though there was a
trend for the elite to move from castles into country houses in the
17th century, castles were not completely useless. In later
conflicts, such as the
English Civil WarEnglish Civil War (1641–1651), many castles
were refortified, although subsequently slighted to prevent them from
being used again.[121] Some country residences, which were not meant
to be fortified, were given a castle appearance to scare away
potential invaders such as adding turrets and using small windows. An
example of this is the 16th century
BubaqraBubaqraCastleCastle in Bubaqra, Malta,
which was modified in the 18th century.[122]
Revival or mock castles became popular as a manifestation of a
Romantic interest in the
Middle AgesMiddle Ages and chivalry, and as part of the
broader Gothic Revival in architecture. Examples of these castles
include Chapultepec in Mexico,[123] Neuschwanstein in Germany,[124]
and Edwin Lutyens'
Castle DrogoCastle Drogo (1911–1930) – the last
flicker of this movement in the British Isles.[125] While churches and
cathedrals in a Gothic style could faithfully imitate medieval
examples, new country houses built in a "castle style" differed
internally from their medieval predecessors. This was because to be
faithful to medieval design would have left the houses cold and dark
by contemporary standards.[126]
Artificial ruins, built to resemble remnants of historic edifices,
were also a hallmark of the period. They were usually built as centre
pieces in aristocratic planned landscapes. Follies were similar,
although they differed from artificial ruins in that they were not
part of a planned landscape, but rather seemed to have no reason for
being built. Both drew on elements of castle architecture such as
castellation and towers, but served no military purpose and were
solely for display.[127]
A toy castle is also used as a common children attraction in playing
fields and fun parks, such as the castle of the
Playmobil FunParkPlaymobil FunPark in
Ħal Far, Malta.[128][129]
Construction[edit]
See also:
Medieval technologyMedieval technology and Stonemasonry

Once the site of a castle had been selected – whether a
strategic position or one intended to dominate the landscape as a mark
of power – the building material had to be selected. An earth
and timber castle was cheaper and easier to erect than one built from
stone. The costs involved in construction are not well-recorded, and
most surviving records relate to royal castles.[130] A castle with
earthen ramparts, a motte, timber defences and buildings could have
been constructed by an unskilled workforce. The source of man-power
was probably from the local lordship, and the tenants would already
have the necessary skills of felling trees, digging, and working
timber necessary for an earth and timber castle. Possibly coerced into
working for their lord, the construction of an earth and timber castle
would not have been a drain on a client's funds. In terms of time, it
has been estimated that an average sized motte – 5 m
(16 ft) high and 15 m (49 ft) wide at the
summit – would have taken 50 people about 40 working
days. An exceptionally expensive motte and bailey was that of Clones
in Ireland, built in 1211 for £20. The high cost, relative to other
castles of its type, was because labourers had to be imported.[130]
The cost of building a castle varied according to factors such as
their complexity and transport costs for material. It is certain that
stone castles cost a great deal more than those built from earth and
timber. Even a very small tower, such as Peveril Castle, would have
cost around £200. In the middle were castles such as Orford, which
was built in the late 12th century for £1,400, and at the upper
end were those such as Dover, which cost about £7,000 between 1181
and 1191.[131] Spending on the scale of the vast castles such as
ChâteauChâteau Gaillard (an estimated £15,000 to £20,000 between 1196 and
1198) was easily supported by The Crown, but for lords of smaller
areas, castle building was a very serious and costly undertaking. It
was usual for a stone castle to take the best part of a decade to
finish. The cost of a large castle built over this time (anywhere from
£1,000 to £10,000) would take the income from several manors,
severely impacting a lord's finances.[132] Costs in the late
13th century were of a similar order, with castles such as
Beaumaris and Rhuddlan costing £14,500 and £9,000 respectively.
Edward I's campaign of castle-building in Wales cost £80,000 between
1277 and 1304, and £95,000 between 1277 and 1329.[133] Renowned
designer Master James of Saint George, responsible for the
construction of Beaumaris, explained the cost:

In case you should wonder where so much money could go in a week, we
would have you know that we have needed – and shall continue to
need 400 masons, both cutters and layers, together with 2,000 less
skilled workmen, 100 carts, 60 wagons and 30 boats
bringing stone and sea coal; 200 quarrymen; 30 smiths; and
carpenters for putting in the joists and floor boards and other
necessary jobs. All this takes no account of the garrison ... nor
of purchases of material. Of which there will have to be a great
quantity ... The men's pay has been and still is very much in
arrears, and we are having the greatest difficulty in keeping them
because they have simply nothing to live on.
— [134]

Not only were stone castles expensive to build in the first place, but
their maintenance was a constant drain. They contained a lot of
timber, which was often unseasoned and as a result needed careful
upkeep. For example, it is documented that in the late
12th century repairs at castles such as Exeter and Gloucester
cost between £20 and £50 annually.[135]
Medieval machines and inventions, such as the treadwheel crane, became
indispensable during construction, and techniques of building wooden
scaffolding were improved upon from Antiquity.[136] When building in
stone a prominent concern of medieval builders was to have quarries
close at hand. There are examples of some castles where stone was
quarried on site, such as Chinon,
ChâteauChâteau de Coucy and Château
Gaillard.[137] When it was built in 992 in France the stone tower at
ChâteauChâteau de Langeais was 16 metres (52 ft) high, 17.5 metres
(57 ft) wide, and 10 metres (33 ft) long with walls
averaging 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in). The walls contain 1,200
cubic metres (42,000 cu ft) of stone and have a total
surface (both inside and out) of 1,600 square metres
(17,000 sq ft). The tower is estimated to have taken
83,000 average working days to complete, most of which was
unskilled labour.[138]
Many countries had both timber and stone castles,[139] however Denmark
had few quarries and as a result most of its castles are earth and
timber affairs, or later on built from brick.[140] Brick-built
structures were not necessarily weaker than their stone-built
counterparts.
BrickBrick castles are less common in England than stone or
earth and timber constructions, and often it was chosen for its
aesthetic appeal or because it was fashionable, encouraged by the
brick architecture of the Low Countries. For example, when Tattershall
CastleCastle was built between 1430 and 1450, there was plenty of stone
available nearby, but the owner, Lord Cromwell, chose to use brick.
About 700,000 bricks were used to build the castle, which has
been described as "the finest piece of medieval brick-work in
England".[141] Most Spanish castles were built from stone, whereas
castles in Eastern
EuropeEurope were usually of timber construction.[142]

The
CastleCastle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, Poland, is an example of
medieval fortresses and built in the typical style of northern Brick
Gothic.[143] On its completion in 1406 it was the largest brick castle
in the world.[144]

Social centre[edit]
See also: Court (royal)

God Speed! by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900: a late Victorian view of a
lady giving a favour to a knight about to do battle

Due to the lord's presence in a castle, it was a centre of
administration from where he controlled his lands. He relied on the
support of those below him, as without the support of his more
powerful tenants a lord could expect his power to be undermined.
Successful lords regularly held court with those immediately below
them on the social scale, but absentees could expect to find their
influence weakened. Larger lordships could be vast, and it would be
impractical for a lord to visit all his properties regularly so
deputies were appointed. This especially applied to royalty, who
sometimes owned land in different countries.[145]
To allow the lord to concentrate on his duties regarding
administration, he had a household of servants to take care of chores
such as providing food. The household was run by a chamberlain, while
a treasurer took care of the estate's written records. Royal
households took essentially the same form as baronial households,
although on a much larger scale and the positions were more
prestigious.[146] An important role of the household servants was the
preparation of food; the castle kitchens would have been a busy place
when the castle was occupied, called on to provide large meals.[147]
Without the presence of a lord's household, usually because he was
staying elsewhere, a castle would have been a quiet place with few
residents, focused on maintaining the castle.[148]
As social centres castles were important places for display. Builders
took the opportunity to draw on symbolism, through the use of motifs,
to evoke a sense of chivalry that was aspired to in the Middle Ages
amongst the elite. Later structures of the Romantic Revival would draw
on elements of castle architecture such as battlements for the same
purpose. Castles have been compared with cathedrals as objects of
architectural pride, and some castles incorporated gardens as
ornamental features.[149] The right to crenellate, when granted by a
monarch – though it was not always necessary – was
important not just as it allowed a lord to defend his property but
because crenellations and other accoutrements associated with castles
were prestigious through their use by the elite.[150] Licences to
crenellate were also proof of a relationship with or favour from the
monarch, who was the one responsible for granting permission.[151]
Courtly loveCourtly love was the eroticisation of love between the nobility.
Emphasis was placed on restraint between lovers. Though sometimes
expressed through chivalric events such as tournaments, where knights
would fight wearing a token from their lady, it could also be private
and conducted in secret. The legend of
Tristan and IseultTristan and Iseult is one
example of stories of courtly love told in the Middle Ages.[152] It
was an ideal of love between two people not married to each other,
although the man might be married to someone else. It was not uncommon
or ignoble for a lord to be adulterous –
Henry I of EnglandHenry I of England had
over 20 bastards for instance – but for a lady to be
promiscuous was seen as dishonourable.[153]
The purpose of marriage between the medieval elites was to secure
land. Girls were married in their teens, but boys did not marry until
they came of age.[154] There is a popular conception that women played
a peripheral role in the medieval castle household, and that it was
dominated by the lord himself. This derives from the image of the
castle as a martial institution, but most castles in England, France,
Ireland, and Scotland were never involved in conflicts or sieges, so
the domestic life is a neglected facet.[155] The lady was given a
dower of her husband's estates – usually about a third –
which was hers for life, and her husband would inherit on her death.
It was her duty to administer them directly, as the lord administered
his own land.[156] Despite generally being excluded from military
service, a woman could be in charge of a castle, either on behalf of
her husband or if she was widowed. Because of their influence within
the medieval household, women influenced construction and design,
sometimes through direct patronage; historian Charles Coulson
emphasises the role of women in applying "a refined aristocratic
taste" to castles due to their long term residence.[157]
Locations and landscapes[edit]

Highland castles such as
ChâteauChâteau de Montségur in France have become
the popular idea of where castles should be found because they are
photogenic, where in reality castles were built in a variety of places
due to a range of considerations.[158]

The positioning of castles was influenced by the available terrain.
Whereas hill castles such as
MarksburgMarksburg were common in Germany, where
66 per cent of all known medieval were highland area while
34 per cent were on low-lying land,[159] they formed a minority
of sites in England.[158] Because of the range of functions they had
to fulfil, castles were built in a variety of locations. Multiple
factors were considered when choosing a site, balancing between the
need for a defendable position with other considerations such as
proximity to resources. For instance many castles are located near
Roman roads, which remained important transport routes in the Middle
Ages, or could lead to the alteration or creation of new road systems
in the area. Where available it was common to exploit pre-existing
defences such as building with a Roman fort or the ramparts of an Iron
Age hillfort. A prominent site that overlooked the surrounding area
and offered some natural defences may also have been chosen because
its visibility made it a symbol of power.[160] Urban castles were
particularly important in controlling centres of population and
production, especially with an invading force, for instance in the
aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century
the majority of royal castles were built in or near towns.[161]

As castles were not simply military buildings but centres of
administration and symbols of power, they had a significant impact on
the surrounding landscape. Placed by a frequently-used road or river,
the toll castle ensured that a lord would get his due toll money from
merchants. Rural castles were often associated with mills and field
systems due to their role in managing the lord's estate,[162] which
gave them greater influence over resources.[163] Others were adjacent
to or in royal forests or deer parks and were important in their
upkeep. Fish ponds were a luxury of the lordly elite, and many were
found next to castles. Not only were they practical in that they
ensured a water supply and fresh fish, but they were a status symbol
as they were expensive to build and maintain.[164]
Although sometimes the construction of a castle led to the destruction
of a village, such as at
Eaton SoconEaton Socon in England, it was more common
for the villages nearby to have grown as a result of the presence of a
castle. Sometimes planned towns or villages were created around a
castle.[162] The benefits of castle building on settlements was not
confined to Europe. When the 13th-century Safad
CastleCastle was founded in
GalileeGalilee in the Holy Land, the 260 villages benefitted from the
inhabitants' newfound ability to move freely.[165] When built, a
castle could result in the restructuring of the local landscape, with
roads moved for the convenience of the lord.[166] Settlements could
also grow naturally around a castle, rather than being planned, due to
the benefits of proximity to an economic centre in a rural landscape
and the safety given by the defences. Not all such settlements
survived, as once the castle lost its importance – perhaps
succeeded by a manor house as the centre of administration –
the benefits of living next to a castle vanished and the settlement
depopulated.[167]

Almourol
CastleCastle in Portugal, which stands on a small islet in the Tejo
River

During and shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, castles were
inserted into important pre-existing towns to control and subdue the
populace. They were usually located near any existing town defences,
such as Roman walls, although this sometimes resulted in the
demolition of structures occupying the desired site. In Lincoln,
166 houses were destroyed to clear space for the castle, and in
York agricultural land was flooded to create a moat for the castle. As
the military importance of urban castles waned from their early
origins, they became more important as centres of administration, and
their financial and judicial roles.[168] When the Normans invaded
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the 11th and 12th centuries,
settlement in those countries was predominantly non-urban, and the
foundation of towns was often linked with the creation of a
castle.[169]
The location of castles in relation to high status features, such as
fish ponds, was a statement of power and control of resources. Also
often found near a castle, sometimes within its defences, was the
parish church.[170] This signified a close relationship between feudal
lords and the Church, one of the most important institutions of
medieval society.[171] Even elements of castle architecture that have
usually been interpreted as military could be used for display. The
water features of
Kenilworth CastleKenilworth Castle in England – comprising a
moat and several satellite ponds – forced anyone approaching a
water castle entrance to take a very indirect route, walking around
the defences before the final approach towards the gateway.[172]
Another example is that of the 14th-century Bodiam Castle, also in
England; although it appears to be a state of the art, advanced castle
it is in a site of little strategic importance, and the moat was
shallow and more likely intended to make the site appear impressive
than as a defence against mining. The approach was long and took the
viewer around the castle, ensuring they got a good look before
entering. Moreover, the gunports were impractical and unlikely to have
been effective.[173]

The landscape around
Leeds CastleLeeds Castle in England has been managed since
the 13th century. The castle overlooks artificial lakes and ponds
and is within a medieval deer park.[174]

An early 13th-century drawing by
Matthew ParisMatthew Paris showing contemporary
warfare, including the use of castles, crossbowmen and mounted knights

As a static structure, castles could often be avoided. Their immediate
area of influence was about 400 metres (1,300 ft) and their
weapons had a short range even early in the age of artillery. However,
leaving an enemy behind would allow them to interfere with
communications and make raids. Garrisons were expensive and as a
result often small unless the castle was important.[175] Cost also
meant that in peace time garrisons were smaller, and small castles
were manned by perhaps a couple of watchmen and gate-guards. Even in
war, garrisons were not necessarily large as too many people in a
defending force would strain supplies and impair the castle's ability
to withstand a long siege. In 1403, a force of 37 archers
successfully defended
Caernarfon CastleCaernarfon Castle against two assaults by Owain
Glyndŵr's allies during a long siege, demonstrating that a small
force could be effective.[176]
Early on, manning a castle was a feudal duty of vassals to their
magnates, and magnates to their kings, however this was later replaced
with paid forces.[176][177] A garrison was usually commanded by a
constable whose peace-time role would have been looking after the
castle in the owner's absence. Under him would have been knights who
by benefit of their military training would have acted as a type of
officer class. Below them were archers and bowmen, whose role was to
prevent the enemy reaching the walls as can be seen by the positioning
of arrowslits.[178]
If it was necessary to seize control of a castle an army could either
launch an assault or lay siege. It was more efficient to starve the
garrison out than to assault it, particularly for the most heavily
defended sites. Without relief from an external source, the defenders
would eventually submit. Sieges could last weeks, months, and in rare
cases years if the supplies of food and water were plentiful. A long
siege could slow down the army, allowing help to come or for the enemy
to prepare a larger force for later.[179] Such an approach was not
confined to castles, but was also applied to the fortified towns of
the day.[180] On occasion, siege castles would be built to defend the
besiegers from a sudden sally and would have been abandoned after the
siege ended one way or another.[181]

If forced to assault a castle, there were many options available to
the attackers. For wooden structures, such as early motte-and-baileys,
fire was a real threat and attempts would be made to set them alight
as can be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry.[182] Projectile weapons had
been used since antiquity and the mangonel and petraria – from
Roman and Eastern origins respectively – were the main two that
were used into the Middle Ages. The trebuchet, which probably evolved
from the petraria in the 13th century, was the most effective
siege weapon before the development of cannons. These weapons were
vulnerable to fire from the castle as they had a short range and were
large machines. Conversely, weapons such as trebuchets could be fired
from within the castle due to the high trajectory of its projectile,
and would be protected from direct fire by the curtain walls.[183]
Ballistas or springalds were siege engines that worked on the same
principles as crossbows. With their origins in Ancient Greece, tension
was used to project a bolt or javelin. Missiles fired from these
engines had a lower trajectory than trebuchets or mangonels and were
more accurate. They were more commonly used against the garrison
rather than the buildings of a castle.[184] Eventually cannons
developed to the point where they were more powerful and had a greater
range than the trebuchet, and became the main weapon in siege
warfare.[103]
Walls could be undermined by a sap. A mine leading to the wall would
be dug and once the target had been reached, the wooden supports
preventing the tunnel from collapsing would be burned. It would cave
in and bring down the structure above.[185] Building a castle on a
rock outcrop or surrounding it with a wide, deep moat helped prevent
this. A counter-mine could be dug towards the besiegers' tunnel;
assuming the two converged, this would result in underground
hand-to-hand combat. Mining was so effective that during the siege of
MargatMargat in 1285 when the garrison were informed a sap was being dug
they surrendered.[186] Battering rams were also used, usually in the
form of a tree trunk given an iron cap. They were used to force open
the castle gates, although they were sometimes used against walls with
less effect.[187]
As an alternative to the time-consuming task of creating a breach, an
escalade could be attempted to capture the walls with fighting along
the walkways behind the battlements.[188] In this instance, attackers
would be vulnerable to arrowfire.[189] A safer option for those
assaulting a castle was to use a siege tower, sometimes called a
belfry. Once ditches around a castle were partially filled in, these
wooden, movable towers could be pushed against the curtain wall. As
well as offering some protection for those inside, a siege tower could
overlook the interior of a castle, giving bowmen an advantageous
position from which to unleash missiles.[188]
See also[edit]

International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland
Mason Contractors Association of America
Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association
Worshipful Company of Masons